PHILADELPHIA — Andrew Bynum walked from a hallway to a trainer’s table behind the bench. He picked up a towel and slung it over his shoulder, then walked out of the gym.

That was about as close as Bynum got to participating in the 76ers’ scrimmage, which closed out Tuesday’s training-camp opener at Saint Joseph’s University’s Hagan Arena.

With Bynum away from basketball activities for three weeks, allowing the non-invasive procedure on his knees that he underwent last month to take full effect, the Sixers are not proceeding with camp as though they’re a team in limbo. Rather, coach Doug Collins is using this time as a chance to see who else he’s got in the depth chart.

That translated to Spencer Hawes, who Collins envisions as the starter at power forward, getting reps at center against Kwame Brown. It also meant seeing flashes of Thad Young, a prototypical small forward whose playing time in recent seasons has come at power forward, moving from the wing to the low post at times.

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“Without Andrew practicing with us, we’re going to simulate all the things we want to do with him not out there,” Collins said. “(Bynum) sat out with us and we were going through all our stuff. Anytime we threw the ball into the post, I was saying, ‘Is this where you want your guys to be? How do you like them cutting? Or whatever.’

“Even if anybody is out there, we want to continue to play that way so we get into a habit of doing it. We don’t want to play an exhibition one way, then try to change.”

Sixers general manager Tony DiLeo said he’s confident in the three-week plan prescribed to Bynum by the team’s doctors, saying he doesn’t expect the 7-footer to miss any time beyond that stretch.

Still, three weeks is three weeks. That’s plenty of time for the Sixers to get into a rhythm of playing without him. That’s why Collins said he doesn’t wish to alter the plan with Bynum off the floor.

“He’s the piece,” Young said of Bynum, who was relegated to weight-lifting, elliptical conditioning and strength work on the side. “Bynum is a big part of our offense, so we have to simulate a lot of what we do with — how should I say it? — a dummy Bynum on the court.”

Naturally, the absence of Bynum could lead to other guys being asked to play out of position. Hawes said he’s OK with shuffling between the four and the five spots, and so is Collins, who said it’s not much of a departure from Hawes’ game, anyway.

Then there’s Young, who finished third in Sixth Man Award voting two seasons ago and has earned a reputation as an off-the-bench power forward. Young has said his outside shooting and ball-handling skills have improved, which would make him an ideal candidate at small forward. However, with the Sixers holding a glut of players at that spot, Young might have to get cozy at the power forward position.

Really, though, Young said he wants to start. It doesn’t matter where.

“That’s probably every forward or wing on the team — competing for a starting spot,” he said. “There’s at least six of us competing for a starting spot. It’s going to be a tough training camp and it’s going to be hard, but at the end of the day we have to find the right group that’s going to mesh well.

“It doesn’t make a difference where. I can still create opportunities for myself and others, I can still play the same way out of both positions. I can go in and rebound well from the three spot. I can stand under the basket and bang with the big guys.”

Lavoy Allen probably would have seen time in the middle during Tuesday’s morning session, but he missed the practice for personal reasons, Collins said.

Ultimately, the Sixers will need every big body ready to go … just in case Bynum isn’t a go at the culmination of that three-week timetable.

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When introduced last week as the Sixers’ general manager, Tony DiLeo expressed an interest in adding an analytics expert to the front office. While it looked like Jordan Cohn might be that guy, he isn’t. At least that’s what DiLeo said.

“He’s part of our scouting team,” DiLeo said of Cohn, who was hired by the team Tuesday as a pro player personnel scout. “We’re still going to hire an analytics person.”

When? “As soon as possible.”

So stay tuned on that front.

While an analytics guy would help the Sixers slap a price tag on free agents or a rank on college kids entering the draft, or even break down statistical data on opposing players, Cohn brings a wealth of scouting experience garnered from eight seasons with the Nets, one with the Knicks and five with the Heat.

“His background, he has some analytics,” DiLeo said. “It’ll help us communicate all the way around. The analytics people communicate in their own language, and we’ll have to decipher everything and bring it all together. This gives us another avenue.”

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With Andrew Bynum in the fold, even if he is on the mend, Evan Turner’s rebounding ability won’t be nearly as essential. Last season, he was the Sixers’ leader with 7.5 boards per game.

Still, Turner’s got his eyes on the glass.

“That’s how I play,” the third-year guard said. “I was the best rebounder on the team last year. It’s what I do. I’m getting boards, baby.”

When Turner wasn’t playing around about his rebounding prowess, he was taking playful jabs at the two referees who called the Sixers’ intrasquad scrimmage.